American Hibiscus Society. Houston, TX June 23 26, 2016

Transcription

1 First President s Committee Meeting, 4:00 PM, June 23, 2016 President James Bridges called the meeting to order and roll was called. Present: President James Bridges, 1 st VP Joanna Schimek, Recording Secretary Krista Mathews, Treasurer Walter Bisselle, Executive Secretary Marti Graves. Absent: 2 nd VP Damon Veach and Chairman of the Board Paul Felsberg, who resigned for health reasons. Meeting was adjourned while the Board of Directors met to elect a Chairman to replace Paul Felsberg. Pat Merritt was elected Chairman of the Board and President Bridges appointed Ann Peltier as Parliamentarian. President Bridges appointed Nancy Kopp to replace Paul Felsberg.

2 Board of Director s Meeting, 4:15 PM, June 23, 2016 The Chairman of the Board Pat Merritt call the meeting to order and Recording Secretary Krista Mathews called the roll. Present: President James Bridges, 1 st VP Joanna Schimek, 2 nd VP Damon Veach, Recording Secretary Krista Mathews, Treasurer Walter Bisselle, Executive Secretary Marti Graves, Directors: Carolyn Cormier-Stoute, Dave Wallin, Fred Roush, Nancy Kopp, Pat Merritt, Ann Peltier, Immediate Past President Damon Veach, and Chapter Presidents Coordinator Wanda Schmoyer. Absent: Lillian Lopez-Farara and Bradley Christian. The Board discussed nomenclature. Parliamentarian Ann Peltier read the bylaw pertaining to nomenclature. Nomenclature only needs to be a list of new blooms. It does not need to be a data base. Ann agreed to speak with CJ Melebeck about getting the existing data base. Some discussion occurred about keeping a nomenclature list in each region (Florida, Louisiana, Texas and the Islands), and then merging the list once or twice a year at membership meetings. Discussion about show packets and updating some of the forms occurred. The seedling registration form needs to be updated. Right now the form has Marti Graves contact information on it, and she resigned from the committee two or three years ago. Also the permanent number list in the show packet will need to be cleaned up. There are many people on the list that no longer show or have passed away. Pat Merritt agreed to contact Roland Gaudet about these items. With no further business, on motion made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 4:29 PM.

3 President s Committee Meeting Reconvene, 4:30 PM, June 23, 2016 President James Bridges called the meeting to order. All committee members present. At the Fall Meeting, a committee was formed to go over the process and best way for Seedling Evaluation Committee to proceed. Chairman Todd Alvis, Melanie Craig, and Greg Graves were on the committee. A report was handed out going over the process, pros and cons of the way it is now, and three ways to change the process. A lot of in-fighting between committee members and Society members is going on, and the committee is not sure which way to go. Discussion amongst everyone of some changes that could occur. No motions or seconds or voting occurred on these discussion points at this meeting. 1) Pat Merritt brought up the fact that when the SEC was first started, all members lived in Florida and only had three evaluators for winning hybridizers to furnish a grafted plant. Fifty years ago people were hybridizing to improve hibiscus not just to spread pollen. 2) Sam Andrews brought up the need to focus on the objective of the SEC, which is to determine the best hibiscus over a period of time. This should be building and engaging the membership. Keeping plants alive is hard work. This will weed out the hybridizers who are not serious. 3) Marti Graves stated that getting plants to the evaluators is a logistical nightmare. She suggested having a regional evaluation. Each region (Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and the Islands) will evaluate the winners from their region. Then the winner in each region will be put into a beauty contest setting for the overall winner for that year. 4) Fred Roush stated that the hybridizer should be responsible for getting the plants to the evaluators on the committee. This will limit seedling evaluation to the hybridizers who are serious about hybridizing. 5) Ann Peltier suggested that the chapters do their own education at meeting as to what is expected of the exhibitors/hybridizers and showing seedlings prior to the start of show season. 6) Cindy Adkins mentioned that she had contacted all members of the SEC in February to see who had what plants as well as again at the beginning of June. Only some of the committee members responded to her

4 s. Joanna Schimek suggested contacting committee members monthly to see how everyone s plants are doing, and which ones died. Some other discussion on seedling evaluation. Originally the grower was to send the committee plants that are no smaller than 10, but this has not been happening. The committee needs to set guidelines and follow the guidelines that are set. There is no grafter in Florida. We need to follow up. Krista Mathews brought up the fact that it is expensive to ship plants to the Islands and the committee never gets plants from the Islands. Do we even need an evaluator in the Islands? No further discussion on this matter occurred. Also discussed was the fact of release versus not released pertaining to seedlings. A motion was made and seconded to expand on the definition of released. Expanded definition of released is as follows: A rooted or grafted hibiscus plant that is sold in commerce, in which some form of compensation is given (this excludes seeds and cuttings as they have not yet been rooted or grafted). The vote was unanimous. With no further business, on motion made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 5:34 PM.

5 Committees as a Whole, 9:00 AM, June 24, 2016 President James Bridges called the meeting to order. The Invocation was given by Pat Merritt, and we all stood to Salute the Flag. James Bridges welcomed all attendees to the convention. Budget Committee: Walter Bisselle The chairman furnished copies of the Annual Report for the Fiscal Year June 1, 2015 through May 31, Congratulations to James Bridges for the organization having a surplus for the last two years. This year s surplus was $2,373. There is no real budget for We will make do. If it comes in, we will use it. The numbers showed that chapter dues were up, and the MAL dues were down, but not much. The society was able to absorb the cost of the election. The cost of printing The Seed Pod has decreased. The cost of the insurance is also continuously dropping. Our budget is dandy at this time. Publications Committee and Show Packets: Walter Bisselle: Roland Gaudet is in charge of Publications. Handbooks are still being sold online. Contact Roland if you would like to order more handbooks for your chapters. Show packets forms are to be updated before going out this year. Such as the permanent number list as well as the seedling registration form. More information to come about The Seed Pod. There are no more of the bloom CD s. Discussion occurred about contacting Jordan from Buffalo Printing to see what the cost would be to create a new CD. The Seed Pod Report was written by Rita Hall and presented by Walter Bisselle. The new printer is working well. We need advertisers to help cut the cost of printing. Articles and pictures are always welcome. Rita would like any information on winning seedlings ed to her at theflowerbird9@yahoo.com. We do need to tighten up on getting the editing done to get it ready for printing in a timely fashion. Special thanks to all contributors and Pat Merritt for editing despite her latest battle with rising water.

6 Bank: Don Bernard Report Presented by Walter Bisselle The Seed Bank continues to send Hybrid Hibiscus Seeds all over the world to interested growers. A mixture of seeds was sent out. The seeds are packaged in bubble-wrap envelopes for protection with a brief instruction sheet to aid in germination and seedling growing. The parentage of crosses and hybridizer are on the packaging of each cross. Special thanks to all our hybridizers who have produced seeds and donated to the seed bank. The seed bank had an expenditure of $561 and an income of $85. This $85 came from since the first of the year people requesting seeds were paying their shipping costs of $5 domestically and $10 internationally by PayPal. This cut some of the cost. Something to think about would be to not charge AHS members the postal cost to request seeds from the seed bank once a year. This was not yet voted on. It was just mentioned. Seed Bank efforts for the new year include having an insert in the seed shipments with information on MAL membership, to have a post in the Fall and Spring issues of The Seed Pod for hybridizers to donate seeds as well as a post in The Seed Pod issues that seed requesters should use the AHS internet site and Seed Bank/PayPal. Any hybridizer who would like to donate their extra seeds can send them to Don Bernard, 2414 Sundown Lane, Lantana, FL Any gardener wanting to request seeds can go to Select: about the AHS, then Select: Seed Bank Chapter Growth and Bylaws: Damon Veach The new Louisiana Chapter in Lake Charles has fizzled away. No one has heard from the Port St. Lucie Chapter. Assumption is that they have fizzled away as well. Damon Veach mentioned doing away with the Fall Meeting all together and only having the June Convention. It was suggested to do a regional Fall Meeting, where all regions would pick a location near them and get back together during the June convention. This would entail two bylaw changes. These were only discussed. No motions, seconds, or votes were made at this time.

7 Show and Judging Rules Committee: Joanna Schimek It was discussed to go over rules about seedling exhibiting with exhibitors. There is a form that was made and sent out to the President s Committee and Board of Directors as well as the show directors. It has since been updated with the opt out information as well. Krista Mathews will this out. There are still some things that need to be edited on this form as well before it goes into the show packets. Discussion on how to judge miniatures ensued 1) Deduct two points for size regardless of category, if the bloom is blooming smaller than normal. No motion, seconds, or votes were made on this discussion. Thank you to Jim Gedicke for presenting a Judges Seminar for all attendees. Convention 2017 Vote: Executive Secretary Marti Graves had three places she had checked (Radisson at the Port in Cape Canaveral, FL, Double Tree in Tampa, FL, and Embassy Suites, in Baton Rouge, LA). June Convention 2017 will be held from June 22, 2017 through June 25, 2017 in Baton Rouge, LA at the Embassy Suites. Seedling Evaluation Committee: Cindy Adkins The chairman Cindy Adkins called the meeting to order. All members were present except for Paul Zinser, who was represented by Wanda Schmoyer. Discussion of the Class of 2013: Drop Crimson Sands and White Flash due to not having enough plants. Most of the evaluators did not have the plants, and there were no plants that would be ready in time to evaluate for SOTY in June of Discussion of the Class of 2014: Drop Butterscotch Splash, Carmel Sun, Lacy Chiffon, Magic Voodoo, and Mystic Mist due to lack of plants. There was either not enough wood to produce enough plants, or the plants evaluators had were not big enough to evaluate. Discussion of the Class of 2015: Drop Mason s Magic and Dreaming of You due to lack of wood. Original plants are either too small or dead. Todd Alvis will keep in touch with Dupont Nursery on Wings of Fire. There was no response from Dupont Nursery on Dust Storm. Both Wings of Fire and Dust Storm have been kept in evaluation until we hear from Dupont Nursery or Todd Alvis.

8 Nomenclature Committee: Ann Peltier Ann Peltier talked with CJ Melebeck about getting the existing list/database from him. He has agreed to help with a nomenclature list. The list does not need to be a data base. It only needs to be a list of any new blooms. If you have a bloom to register, send the information to Pat Merritt, Ann Peltier, or CJ Melebeck. If you would like, you can include a picture, but mainly what we need is the list of parents and a description of the bloom. We need to keep building and expanding the AHS nomenclature. Chapter Presidents Meeting: Wanda Schmoyer Wanda Schmoyer discussed how to publicize for events and shows as well as other chapter presidents discussing what their chapters do to increase chapter growth. There should be agendas put together for business meetings. The goal of the hibiscus society should be on that agenda. The chapter s letterhead should be on top of every handout. To publicize for events, use the words press release as the subject in an . Call all your local papers a month ahead of the show. Send s to the editors as well as who you are supposed to send it to. Call local radio and tv stations to ask how they work their advertising for events. If you get new members, give them a duty right away, such as refreshment duty or what James E. Hendry Chapter calls the Sunshine Chairperson, who sends out sympathy or get well cards. Some chapters do monthly 50/50 raffles where half the money goes to the winner and the other half goes into the treasury. James E. Hendry Chapter also does Plant Sale only with no show in November and March to add to the treasury for that chapter with plants from Big Bad Flower. Some chapters give away cuttings and raffle plants off to involve the new members. Harry Goulding Chapter participates at the Home and Garden Show in their area at no charge, because of their not for profit status. They sell plants also, which increases their treasury. Problem they are having is finding people to volunteer two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon for two days. The Central Florida Chapter has an informational table at the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival. There is someone always at the table, but sometimes there is more information than others. When the Chapter President Gary Mathews and his family are there, there are handouts about taking care of your hibiscus as well as show dates, other chapter information, and even a form to join as an MAL for those Disney visitors from around the world.

9 For those presidents who feel they have been president too long, and feel it is time for someone else to take over, try finding someone in the chapter and groom them for the position for a year. Try to make meetings fun. Plan a few social gatherings rather than a business meeting, such as a field trip to a nursery, ice cream socials, new member BBQ s (Mike Bernard Acadiana Chapter at Buddy Short s house).

10 Second President s Committee Meeting, 2:30 pm, June 24, 2016 President James Bridges called the meeting to order and roll was called. Present: President James Bridges, 1 st VP Joanna Schimek, 2 nd VP Damon Veach, Recording Secretary Krista Mathews, Chairman of Directors Pat Merritt, Treasurer Walter Bisselle, and Executive Secretary Marti Graves. A motion was made and seconded to make a new CD or Flashdrive of blooms for members. The vote was unanimous. A motion was made and seconded that every active member of the AHS can request seeds from the seed bank once a year free of cost. The vote was unanimous. Seedling Evaluation Committee Proposal was presented by Jim Gedicke. There is lack of stability in the committee. If the evaluation is done correctly, all parts of the seedling are being evaluated, and not just the blooms. Some ways the committee will be improved are using the seven evaluators that are on the committee for the evaluation and the final evaluation an 8 th evaluator will be added (the public). They will be converting raw scores to ordinals like the Olympics Figure Skating Judges do. Then they will convert those ordinals using the voter vector method to rank the seedlings like the Baseball Writers Association of America use in determining their Most Valuable Players. The chairman of the committee will communicate with the evaluators monthly rather than twice a year. The hybridizer or designee will be responsible for getting the plant to the evaluators. The evaluator will call the chairman or the hybridizer as soon as their plant dies. There should be something in the show packet discussing rules of showing seedlings to give to seedling exhibitors (Krista Mathews has a form put together and will it out to the president s committee and board of directors for approval and any changes that are suggested, before putting it in the show packets). Once two plants have died at the hands of an evaluator, the third plant and up will have to be purchased by that evaluator. SEC Proposal as given by Jim Gedicke will be put on AHS Biz. With no further business, on motion made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 3:29 PM.

11 Second Board of Director s Meeting, 3:30 PM, June 24, 2016 Chairman Pat Merritt called the meeting to order and Recording Secretary Krista Mathews called the roll. Present: President James Bridges, 1 st VP Joanna Schimek, 2 nd VP Damon Veach, Recording Secretary Krista Mathews, Chairman of Directors Pat Merritt, Treasurer Walter Bisselle, Executive Secretary Marti Graves, Directors: Carolyn Cormier-Stoute, Lillian Lopez-Farara, Dave Wallin, Fred Roush, Nancy Kopp, Ann Peltier, Immediate Past President Damon Veach, Chapter President s Coordinator Wanda Schmoyer. Absent: Bradley Christian. Convention in 2017 will be held at the Embassy Suites in Baton Rouge, Louisiana from June 22 to June 25, A motion was made and seconded for the Publications Committee to check into making a new bloom CD or flash drive to give to new members. The vote was unanimous. Pat Merritt volunteered to shepherd this project. A motion was made and seconded to give active AHS members one chance a year to get seeds from the seed bank free of charge. The vote was unanimous. Award presentation for last year s 3 rd place Seedling of the Year award was given to Sam and Lynn Andrews for Grape Cola. With no further business, on motion made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 4:04 PM.

12 First General Session, 9:00 AM, June 25, 2016 President James Bridges called the meeting to order with a Salute to the Flag. The invocation was given by Pat Merritt. Objective of the American Hibiscus Society is to further propagation and education of hibiscus. Roll was called by Recording Secretary Krista Mathews. Present: President James Bridges, 1 st VP Joanna Schimek, 2 nd VP Damon Veach, Recording Secretary Krista Mathews, Chairman of Directors Pat Merritt, Treasurer Walter Bisselle, Executive Secretary Marti Graves, Directors: Carolyn Cormier-Stoute, Lillian Lopez-Farara, Dave Wallin, Fred Roush, Nancy Kopp, Ann Peltier. Absent: Bradley Christian. Treasurer s Report: Walter Bisselle The society has a surplus of $2,373 for this year. The reason for this surplus is the fact that chapter dues are up, and MAL dues are steady, as well as the production cost of The Seed Pod and insurance cost being down. A question came up about the historian storage being held by Barbara Hagan-Smith. This storage keeps going up, but the Publication storage being held by Roland Gaudet is reducing in size when he can. Budget Committee: Walter Bisselle The society is financially ok. We will make as much money as we can and spend as little as we can. Bylaws Committee: Damon Veach A bylaws amendment was brought up about eliminating Fall Meeting. A handout was made and given out. It was decided that this will need to be brought up at Fall Meeting of 2016 and put in The Seed Pod in January Other bylaws will have to be amended if the Fall Meeting is eliminated. Publications Committee: Walter Bisselle standing in for Rita Hall The Seed Pod is going well. The publications committee is going to check into the cost and logistics of having a new bloom CD or Flashdrive made for new members. Discussed contacting Roland about having more Miniature cards put in the Show Packets due to the rule where any bloom that fits through the 5 ring is a miniature, and some chapters are running out of miniature cards. If you don t

13 need exhibitor cards, let Roland know what you do need. This way your show packet will cost less for the chapter and the society will save money on printing new ones. Membership/MAL s: Walter Bisselle The society has 600 memberships with 800 members. International MAL s have decreased. Show Dates: Damon Veach The 2 nd Vice President needs the show dates from chapters as soon as the show date is determined for that chapter. He has only received a select few show dates. Nomenclature Committee: Ann Peltier The objective of this committee is to establish a nomenclature list. The committee is going to work together to get the old listing and add any new ones. The committee is not worried about having pictures of the blooms right now. The seedling registration form that is placed in the show packets needs to be changed. Marti Graves contact information needs to be removed and Ann Peltier s contact information needs to be added. Show and Judging rules: Joanna Schimek Description of a miniature is any bloom that fits through the 5 ring on show day. The rule suggestion that a regular bloom growing as a miniature on show day can have one point taken off for size making it a nine-point gold unless there are other problems with the bloom was never made a rule with motion, second, and vote. Therefore, there was no rule change, it was only discussed. The rule is to be left as stated. Up to two points can be deducted if the bloom is not blooming at the correct size. Seedling Evaluation Committee: Cindy Adkins The committee is going to use forced ranking like in figure skating to evaluate plants to make it fair to those plants that not all evaluators have. This will be a 1-4-point scale. In the fourth year of evaluation of seedlings, an eighth evaluator (the membership) will be added. The hybridizers will be responsible for

14 making sure the evaluators have the plants they need. The evaluators will be contacted monthly to make sure they have plants. The evaluators will be responsible for contacting the hybridizer or the committee chair if a plants dies. Directors at shows will be responsible for getting the hybridizer contact info at chapter shows. Seedling registration forms will be sent to Ann Peltier for the foreseeable future. A form to be given to exhibitors/hybridizers stating the requirements for showing seedlings during shows will be in the show packets. Jim Gedicke did a presentation on Holly Hock Thrips prior to the Chapter Presidents Reports. Chapter President Reports BVI-Lillian Lopez-Farara: The members of this chapter did not really step up. This chapter will dissolve within months. St. Croix-Lillian Lopez-Farara: Most of this chapter s active members have become MAL s. There is no new news and no report was sent. This chapter has fallen apart. St. Thomas-Lillian Lopez-Farara: This chapter did have a show. They seem to be holding steady and are in good shape. There is a show in Tortola every day at Lillian s Boutique. Central Florida-Gary Mathews: This chapter has six new members. Two members are commercial growers (the owners of TropEco, Dixie and Adam Resnick and the owner of Buena Vista Hibiscus, Bill Bryan). Both shows this year were successful. The Epcot show gets better each year. Monthly meetings are held at South Seminole Farm and Nursery free of charge. Their goal for this year is to continue adding new members. Conrad Sunrise-Marti Graves reported for Maureen Buono: This chapter had another successful year. Monthly meetings were well attended, and they had several hands on workshops. Each meeting they had mini shows. Their auction and plants sales provided funds for their shows. The chapter is also trying to overcome the resignation of Paul Felsberg due to health reasons and the fact that their president Jo Conrad is not feeling well. They are trying to stay steady.

15 Gulf Coast-Walter Bisselle: The reports of this chapter s demise were grossly exaggerated. The Harry Goulding Chapter stepped in and helped at their show. The plant sale at the show did better than usual. The future of the chapter is cloudy. Over the coming months, they will be analyzing finances and thinking of ways to revitalize the chapter. Harry Goulding-Dave Wallin: This chapter had a successful year. They now have 42 members. Some of the new members are younger and enthusiastic. The bloom count was a little lower than usual at their annual Mother s Day show due to the larger growers no longer participating. They have been invited to participate in the Home and Garden Show that occurs three times a year at no cost, and they can sell plants. This money defrays the cost of the annual Mother s Day Show. This also helps to publicize the society and gain new members. This chapter also has an annual picnic and Christmas party. As well as they are trying to make their meetings a social gathering rather than business, and no one is in a hurry to leave. James E. Hendry-Wanda Schmoyer: This chapter gained 16 new members at a Plant Sale Only event in the Fall, because they offered a $5 discount on each plant if they joined. Their June show and sale was a success. All the plants sold. They advertised in 13 different newspapers and on tv and radio shows. Publicity works. The chapter also had some outside speakers come in and paid the $25 to speak at meetings. Members also do presentations on their experiences. The chapter s newsletter is one of the best in the society and is funded by their 50/50 raffle where ½ the money goes to the winner and the other ½ funds the mailing of the newsletter to members. Lone Star-Ottmar Schimek: This chapter has only had two meetings this year, but has had several board and committee meetings in preparation for their two shows and this convention. The two chapter meetings dealt with show and judging and plant fertilization. In preparation for their two shows they ordered 600 plants from Hidden Valley Hibiscus and Martindale Nurseries. Five Hundred of the plants were sold at the first show, so they ordered 300 more for the second show. The plants came through the mail and the chapter potted all 900 of them up. Over two shows approximately 1,250 plants were sold along with fertilizer,

16 handbooks, and memberships. Their membership currently stands at 37 including the 8 new members. Mike Bernard Acadiana-Buddy Short reporting for Sandy Scheuermann: This chapter had an outstanding year. They have 50 fulltime members and 23 associate members. They picked up 10 new fulltime members and 4 associate members. At their annual show they set an all-time Louisiana record of 791 blooms on display. They honored the military during their plant sale by offering a free plant to any military person presenting their military ID. Twenty-nine plants were given away. They introduced a new granular fertilizer ( ), and sold quart canisters. Each guest at the show could sign up to have a new seedling named in their honor. This drawing was held once the show ended. A seven-yearold kid won this year, and he selected the name Morning Kiss for his bloom. He was presented with a framed and name plated picture of his bloom. They continue to select bloom pictures monthly from their chapter members to include in their annual hibiscus calendar. Thank you to Ann Peltier for the terrific idea. They will be holding their annual New Member BBQ at Buddy Short s home. This is a great way for new as well as existing members to meet each other in a casual setting. The objective for this chapter is to continue to give back to our membership in the form of free plants (7 plants at the last meeting) and free fertilizer. New Orleans-Jim Gedicke reported for Father Bob Gerlich: This chapter meets at Loyola University. Father Gerlich usually speaks at meeting unless he is not home, and then Jim Gedicke speaks in his place. They have grafting parties at member s homes. They have an ice cream social as well as a Christmas party annually. They have a membership table at their show where they gained 16 new members. Five hundred blooms where on display at their show. This year was a great success for their chapter. Red Stick-Damon Veach: This chapter has 51 members as well as 13 associate members. Their show was a great success. They sold only Dupont Nursery plants. Dupont Nursery gives the chapter 25% of their profits at the show. They also had a field trip to Todd and Janelle Alvis home. This year has been very successful for them.

17 Space City-Joyce Melebeck: This chapter consists of 48 AHS memberships totaling 77 members and 9 associate members. This includes the new memberships. Our monthly meeting attendance is consistently at about 40 members. At each meeting presentations are given on the care and maintenance of hibiscus. They held two shows, both of which were very successful and increased our revenue. They have an ice cream social, a grafting party, and a Christmas party planned. They also have a monthly newsletter that is now being ed to a majority of their members. They expect their membership to continue to grow. Sunset-David Craig: This chapter s new president came into office in December after the resignation of Fred Roush. Fred and his wife Connie mentored him and his wife Melanie. In February, they hosted the first show of 2016 at the Florida State Fair. There was no plant sale at this show, but it was well attended and deemed a success. The chapter designed a booth that competed against other horticultural societies throughout the states and did place in the money. This event does give great exposure for the AHS. Their May show and plant sale was also well attended, and they sold almost all 400 plants that were ordered. The chapter s finances are in great shape. They currently have 35 family memberships with hopes of expanding that number in the near future. The afternoon was ours to tour Houston or just relax.

18 Awards Banquet, June 25, 2016 The Harry Goulding Grafting Award was given to Todd Alvis; presented by Greg Graves. The Norman and Beverly Brubaker Award for the 2015 Judges Favorite Bloom was given to Bayou Rose, Bobby Dupont and Father Bob Gerlich, hybridizers; presented by Joanna Schimek. The Norman Reasoner Award for Most Amateur Exhibitors in the 2015 show season was a tie: Sunset Chapter and Mike Bernard Acadiana; presented by Damon Veach. The A.B. Morrison Award for an exhibitor with the most Best of Show seedlings in 2015 was won by Curt Sinclair; presented by Cindy Adkins. Gold Seal Sweepstakes Awards: Amateur: Florida: Kelly Blevins Islands: Beatrice Gumbs Louisiana: Ryan Perry Texas: Sean Mohme Collector: Florida: Judy Nadella Islands: Bradley Christian Louisiana: Stephan Callehan Texas: Cindy Wilson Open Collector: Florida: Bill Bryan Islands: Gordan and Elizabeth Hesser Louisiana: Todd and Janelle Alvis Texas: Ottmar and Joanna Schimek Commercial: Florida: Exotic Hibiscus Islands: Clement and Johanny Magras Louisiana: Dupont Nursery Texas: Don and Carolyn Florus

19 Seedling of the Year for th Place: Stippled Tiger Dupont/Gerlich, hybridizers 3 rd Place: Spotted Fever Dupont/Gerlich, hybridizers 2 nd Place: Silver Sun Sonny Stollings, hybridizer 2016 Seedling of the Year: Cheerleader Cindy Adkins, hybridizer The Nola Reynolds/Ann Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award: Paul Felsberg Presidential Citations, presented by James Bridges: Outstanding Service Award: Walter Bisselle Outstanding Executive Secretary Award: Marti Graves Election Results and Installation of new Officers: Directors: Todd Alvis, Don Bernard, Connie Roush, and Cindy Wilson Recording Secretary: Krista Mathews 2 nd Vice President: Fred Roush 1 st Vice President: Carolyn Cormier-Stoute President: Damon Veach

20 Second General Session, 9:00 AM, June 26, 2016 President Damon Veach called the meeting to order. Invocation was given by Dee Wallin, and we saluted the flag. There was no unfinished business to be discussed. New business that needed to be discussed was to appoint a Director for Florida to replace Don Bernard, who had resigned a week before convention. President Damon Veach appointed David Craig as the director to replace Don Bernard. President Damon Veach also appointed Joanna Schimek as his executive secretary. David Craig was asked to take care of the raffle tickets. Marti Graves gave out the extra goodie bags to the attendees who were left. President Damon Veach thanked Krista Mathews for her hard work as the Recording Secretary, and Marti Graves for her hard work as the Executive Secretary. Fall Meeting 2016 will be held November 11-13, 2016 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Tampa, FL. With no further business, on motion made and seconded, and unanimously carried, the 2016 convention was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Krista L. Mathews Recording Secretary

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